Riverside Sues LA Ports

Says too many trains are moving through the city of Riverside.

Talk about biting the hand that feeds you.

Trains were going to create a problem for the developers of the Interchange Business Park in San Bernardino. They estimated that the number of trains that were going to move through the site would create a problem for distribution tenants, who do not want to wait for trains.

Their solution?

The developer just built an overpass so trucks would not have to wait for the trains.

Riverside has a large number of rail crossings, and everyday more than 100 trains roll right through the city, delaying traffic and increasing pollution.

Who pays for these negative externalities? Well, whenever there is a cost, there will also be an economic model.

One can think of this in classic environmental economics terms. Most people are easier with the "polluter pays" principal, meaning that Riverside (the victim) wants the trains (the polluter) to pay for the infrastructure.

Or, Riverside could pay the trains not to pollute, essentially bribe the polluter to pollute less.


The crux of the issue is property rights. If the property rights were very clearly established, it would be evident who should foot the bill.

In economic reasoning, it does not really matter who pays what, since the outcome will be the same. Who pays really depends on if the rail company has the "right" to pollute or it does not.
Which is what Riverside is trying to figure out.